Chapter Eight
Wade
I wake up slowly, dragged from sleep because of movement against me. I’m so warm and for once, I feel relatively safe. Gods, how long has it been since I’ve felt like this?
It feels like maybe I’m still sleeping. Surely I can’t actually feel good, not when the world is shit and I’m all alone.
Except, I’m not alone. Not anymore.
I have Briggs.
I don’t even know what that means. Not really. We’ve decided to stick together but are we friends? Are we two castaways trying to survive together? Are we somehow more than that, trauma-bonded for life?
It’s all so confusing but at the same time, being with Briggs feels like the most natural thing in the world. Neither of us wants to do this alone. Did we choose each other? Maybe not, but that doesn’t matter. We’re choosing to stay.
Briggs moves, twitching in his sleep. He makes a soft, barely there noise that sounds so broken it threatens to shatter my heart.
I have no idea what he’s dreaming about but it’s not hard to see it’s not something good.
His hairline is damp with sweat, his face is scrunched up instead of soft and gentle.
I don’t like seeing Briggs like this. He’s always so strong, so soft despite the horrors around us.
“Briggs,” I say as softly as I can. He’s got his arm around my middle, a leg pressed between mine. I run my fingers over his arm, trying to wake him without yanking him from his dream. “Briggs. Wake up.”
Briggs makes another noise at the back of his throat but thankfully, his lashes flutter and his face smooths out. He blinks a few times, the hand around my middle grabbing my shirt and holding on so tight it must hurt his fingers.
“Briggs,” I say again, just as softly. “You’re okay. It was just a dream.”
Briggs lets out a long breath. My hand continues a line up and down his arm, doing my best to chase whatever he’d just dreamed about away.
He’s helped me so much since we met. Hell, he literally saved me.
Comforting him is the least I can do, but it’s not some bullshit ‘I owe him’ that makes me want to do it.
No. I want to comfort him just for the sake of comforting him.
Without realizing it, Briggs has somehow found his way beneath my skin.
He’s inside my very chest, resting beside my heart.
It’s a surprise but not an unwelcome one.
Sure, this only adds to my worries, but it also adds to my joys.
A delicate balance of survival and remembering that somehow, despite it all, we’re still alive.
Briggs finally looks up at me, his eyes still a little glassy from just waking up. His hair sticks up at weird angles, his cheek creased from the way he was resting against my shoulder. He’s beautiful.
“Wade,” he breathes out. Briggs closes his eyes, resting his forehead against my shoulder. “Jesus, Wade. Don’t scare me like that.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“It’s not important,” he says, almost so softly I don’t hear it. Thankfully, my werewolf hearing picks it up. “I’m just glad you’re here. You’re okay.”
“I’m here,” I say, wrapping him more thoroughly in my arms. I squeeze him gently, running my fingers over every inch of skin I can find. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You promise?”
My mouth runs dry and my heart speeds up inside my chest. I wish so desperately that I could promise him the world, but I can’t. Not truly. Not in the world we live in.
“I can’t promise that everything will be okay,” I say, my voice breaking. What the hell is happening? Are we really having a heart to heart right now? “I can only promise that I’ll do everything in my power to stay here for as long as I can and to protect you along the way.”
Briggs lifts his head. He’s still shaking the tiniest bit, his voice still strained, but there’s a determination in his eyes. “Good enough for me,” he says before he’s leaning forward and kissing my lips.
I’m so surprised that I freeze, my entire body locking up all at once.
What. The. Fuck.
Briggs starts to pull back, his eyes wide with horror. He opens his mouth, most likely to apologize but I stop him before he can. I bring my hand to the back of his neck, pulling him down into another kiss.
Briggs melts against me. He lifts a hand to my cheek, holding me gently.
He’s always so gentle with me. My werewolf nature is chaotic and dangerous, yet he sees past that.
He just sees me, sees Wade, the guy doing his best to get through the horrors.
He’s not only saved me but he’s made me want to live again.
I make a broken noise at the back of my throat, overwhelmed with emotions. I never thought I’d have this again, never let myself dream of feeling emotions like joy or excitement or, dare I admit, love, ever again. I assumed I would fight like hell until the bitter end and die alone.
Briggs has changed my entire world. Briggs has changed me.
The hand against my cheek moves back, running over my head, petting my short hair. It feels so nice, causing my skin to break out with goosebumps despite how warm it is under the blankets with Briggs.
My stomach is a mess of excitement, my heart pounding against my ribs. The hand around Briggs’ back shakes. This is so much. This is almost too much. At the same time, I’m ravenous. I want more. I want as much as Briggs is willing to give me.
Briggs opens his lips, deepening the kiss. I jump head first into it, pushing my tongue into his mouth, moaning when my tongue meets his. My head swims. It’s taking everything inside of me to keep my inner beast at bay, to keep myself from losing my control.
I do my best to turn onto my side, the hand on Briggs’ back moves lower, cupping his hip. I pull him against me until his pelvis bumps against my hip. That’s when I feel that he’s hard, his erection rubbing against me. I moan into our kiss, my head growing foggy all over again.
Briggs is hard. He’s aroused. He’s enjoying this just as much as I am. He wants me.
I pull back, sucking in a sharp breath through my nose.
I can fucking taste Briggs’ arousal in the air and I gasp with how fucking turned on it makes me.
I need him in a way I’ve never felt before.
I need him above me, squirming against me, beneath me, panting.
I need him in the most carnal of ways. At the same time, all I need is him here with me, whatever that means for the two of us.
“Briggs,” I gasp out, my voice breaking with how desperate I’m feeling. Briggs just smiles down at me, adjusting himself so that he’s between my legs, hovering on top of me.
I tug him down, forcing our bodies to collide. We both gasp, feeling each other’s erections through our boxers. He gives an experimental thrust, pushing our cocks against each other and we both moan in pleasure.
“Briggs. Please.”
Briggs nods his head, thrusting against me again. As our bodies move together, he ducks down, kissing me again. I feel like my body is on fire. It’s so much. It’s so good. I groan into our kiss, the sound muffled by Briggs’ lips.
It’s hard for me to even wrap my head around that this is happening, that this is real. I might still be asleep, dreaming of having Briggs like this.
Briggs moves away from my lips, pressing hot, wet kisses against my jaw. When he nips at me, I realize with a start that this is very much not a dream. This is real. This is really happening. Briggs is kissing me silly while dry humping me under the covers.
“Fuck,” I say at a particularly perfect thrust. My dick is so hard that it’s starting to hurt, aching for release.
As much as I want to come, I don’t want this to be over.
I want to stretch this out for as long as I can.
I want Briggs to never move from exactly where he is, fucking against me, kissing my jaw, whimpering against my skin.
One of my hands stays pressed against his spine, the other moves down to his ass, cupping him through his boxers.
His movements stutter for just a moment before he’s sucking in a shaky breath and humping against me again, this time with harder, feverish movements.
He’s chasing his pleasure so desperately. God, it’s hot as fuck.
“I’m so close,” Briggs manages to say through clenched teeth. His voice is so broken, so desperate. My cock throbs as I cast my hips up, fucking up against Briggs the same way he’s fucking down against me.
“Yeah,” I breathe out, gasping in pleasure. “Me too. Come with me, Briggs.”
I tug Briggs back down and we kiss. Our pleasure continues to skyrocket until we’re too far gone to keep kissing. Instead, we end up breathing heavy against each other’s mouths, our noses bumping as we desperately hump against each other.
I’m not sure which of us crests first but all at once, we’re tipping over the edge.
I dig my fingers into Brigg’s back, holding on desperately as I come.
He cries out and I swallow the sound. Pleasure races through my body, making me tense all over before letting go all at once.
Warm wetness pools against our bellies and the smell of our cum makes me growl at the back of my throat.
I’m going to be able to smell this on our skin for the rest of the day.
“Shit,” Briggs whispers, collapsing against my chest. I wrap my arms around him, holding him tight, silently begging him not to move. I bury my face against his hair, breathing him in.
This is nice. Really, really fucking nice. I wish we could stay like this all day. Hell, I wish we could stay like this forever.
I’m not sure how long we stay like that but eventually, Briggs starts to move. He kisses my cheek before getting off of me. Quietly, he makes his way into the little bathroom attached to the bedroom. I can hear him cursing to himself about trying to clean the cum out of his boxers.
I smile to myself. I’m not sure what any of this means for us, but I don’t regret it, not for a second.
I care about Briggs so much. I’m not alone anymore and even though we didn’t get to pick who we ended up with during the apocalypse, I’m happy it was Briggs who found me.
If I was allowed to choose, I think I’d pick him every time.